The Witness Chronicle, 10/18/24
A contrarian POV about the election
The Right Appears to Be In Panic Mode
Everything is falling apart
What happens when you’re weeks away from an election and you realize your candidate is a mess and his running mate is a moronic opportunist with no ideas or personality?
A lot of Republicans are asking themselves that and it feels like panic is setting in, with no way out. Their entire strategy is based on Donald Trump’s cult of personality but, like most cults, the veneer is wearing off and the great leader is lost in his own ego trip, unreachable and uncontrollable.
Today the news is full of stories of last minute cancellations by the ex-President, even for interviews with friendly faces, giving the impression that those around him are scared of what he will say or do.
They have good reasons to feel that way. Kamala Harris did what many believed impossible when she took over the reins with only three months to go. She consolidated her party, no small feat, and built a campaign and a public persona in just weeks. Now, three months probably sounds like infinity to Republicans realizing they cannot change gears at this late date.
I know the numbers say it’s a dead heat, but there are numerous signs that may be very wrong and nothing Trump is doing is changing that. He is desperately flailing around trying to be all things at once on issues like abortion, IVF, immigration funding, and disaster relief.
In hindsight his orders to congress to cancel the bipartisan border funding bill months ago may have been a huge blunder, effectively neutering his advantage on a major issue and giving Harris a weapon to beat up critics on the issue.
Likewise with abortion, as Trump’s overturning of Roe v Wade and the tone deaf right wing male politicians’ response (no exceptions, criminalize healthcare for women, pass a national ban, etc.) now alienating women in general. White women played a major role in his winning in 2016, but now bills protecting their rights will be on the ballots in multiple states, including many red states.
There are indications that women’s reproductive rights bills are likely to bring out voters who would be otherwise unengaged and may help down ballot Democrats even in red states like Florida.
These examples go on and on. The only strategy we are seeing from the Republican Party is attack, insult, scare, and lie, and it’s wearing thin. Even Trump seems to have lost interest in even trying to deliver policy statements. The recent dance party incident, which went on and on and on, was probably the most bizarre political event I have ever witnessed.
As expected, the major media are finally focused on telling the story of Trump’s degradation and fact checking his constant lying to the point where both Trump and Vance are scared shitless of appearing anywhere where responsible journalists and experts will call them out.
The recent open embrace by some MAGA hardcore of actual Nazism can’t be very comfortable for less extreme supporters. That’s a road you can’t return from and it has tempted Trump since the beginning of his political career.
And then there are those pesky felony indictments for small things like stealing classified documents and planning and executing an insurrection designed to overturn the government. That stuff is still out there and Trump knows it. I’m guessing he has had a lot of sleepless nights thinking about that.
The reality is that we know nothing about the man. His health is another expanding issue in these last weeks as voters start asking if we really want to risk electing an old man who does nothing healthy and appears to be flirting with dementia. We are seeing more media focus on those issues too.
I know, it may seem incredibly naive of me to say these things, but they are adding up more and more every day and the Republican response is becoming more and more fragmented, with many high ranking GOPers coming out for Harris.
There are many unprecedented events happening, and all of them are centered around Trump and his inner circle. It is apparent that the inner circle, now exclusively composed of the worst of the right wing wack jobs, have no ideas beyond using hate and fear in a desperate attempt to rescue the campaign.
The much vaunted October Surprise may be this unraveling, not some startling event, though in this election nothing can be ruled out. Nothing.
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Well said. I had the same epiphany 4 yrs later in Central Park, NYC. it was incredible and I was never able to replicate it.
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